Between a $60 food and a $75 food, you won't see much difference in your dog. But when you drop in quality as you would with this brand, you'll definitely see a difference. Vet bills will likely be high enough to cover any cost difference between that food and a great food. Nutro isn't the best either, but if cost is a definite concern for you, then go with Costco's Kirkland brand instead. It's cheaper and better than Nutro.

For this food, here's the break down:

chicken-- as techno said, it's wet chicken, which means by the time it's cooked and loses 80% of its moisture, it drops far down the list, leaving ingredient #2 as the #1 ingredient.

ground yellow corn and later, corn gluten meal -- both just make the stool bigger. They boost the numbers (protein, fiber mainly) and don't really benefit the dog.

wheat flour, ground wheat -- a VERY common cause of allergies and just an unnecessary, low quality ingredient.

poultry by-product meal -- you don't even want to know what's in there... Not just beaks and feet, but decayed and diseases animals. And not just chicken either. Crow, sea gull, you name it. If it has wings and it died a horrible miserable death, it's in there.

tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E) --- Whose tallow? Is it a cow's? If they don't say, it's because they don't know. It could be dogs and cats. Studies have found traces of the drug used to euthanize dogs and cats in cheap dog foods with mystery meat.

salt -- why? Just to make it tasty and addictive

animal digest --- more mystery animals. This one is far more likely to be cats and dogs than the tallow was, though.

menadione sodium bisulfate complex (source of vitamin k activity) -- banned for human consumption, many dog food companies are removing it from their foods. Not this one! Menadione, or vitamin K3 causes free radicals in the body, which destroy DNA, which can lead to tumors and cancer. What you want, if anything, is vitamin K1 instead. K1 is the natural version of this vitamin.

Hope that helps.

Oh and when they split ingredients, like they do for the corn and the wheat, it's because there is more of it. It's likely that if you combined all the wheat into one ingredient and did the same for the corn, both would be ahead of the chicken on the label (even though the chicken is made heavy by the water content), and the food would look as bad as it is.

at the prices they charge for Nutro im suprised to hear negativity. It is bloody expensive and most of it ends up in the shovel anyway!

yes i can imagine feeding two great danes is expensive how much do you pay per bag of nutro, how many pounds per bag? how many do you use per month? remember that the higher quality food may cost more initially, but you feed less per dog per day, they poop less, and chances are they end up healthier... just my

at the prices they charge for Nutro im suprised to hear negativity. It is bloody expensive and most of it ends up in the shovel anyway!

Nutro is not that bad , I used to feed my dogs the Lamb and Rice formula and they are now on the Kirkland Lamb and Rice, same ingredients as Nutro , less expensive, I do give them suplements too. I heard some dogs had problems on the chicken formula, so I would suggest the Lamb one.

frenchy have you tried feeding your crew better foods for 6 months, and judged the results for yourself?... something like Evo or BATM. i think you would find they poop less and need less food to be at an ideal weight. although goldens do love to eat and get easily overweight... don't follow the instructions on the bag, portions are often exaggerated cuz the companies want to sell more food

I think to see a difference in the feeding, you have to compare a crappy-crap food to a high quality food :
Ex : if I fed Buster Dog Chow, I would have to feed him 4 cups of food, whereas I'm feeding him 2 cups and 1/2 of Solid Gold BATM (barking at the moon)

First and foremost, dogs are carnivore/omnivores – a good proportion of their diet needs to be meat protein sources. Plant proteins tend to be more difficult for dogs to digest, are less palatable and offer less nutrition. Grains are lower than vegetables on the digestibility and nutritional adequacy scale.

So, look at the top five or so ingredients - these form the major portion of the food. The ingredients in dog food are required to be listed in order of weight. So that means that the first ingredient on the list is the one with the greatest volume in the food. We want this to be a named meat source – eg. Chicken, beef or lamb. Never unidentified “meat” and never a "by-product". Note also that since the list runs in order of weight, it is better to see “chicken meal” than “chicken” at the top of the list. “Chicken” includes a high degree of water content, “chicken meal” does not – so with “chicken” it is quite possible that once the water content is removed, it may actually be the fourth or fifth ingredient, not necessarily the first as suggested.

Within the first five ingredients we want to see at least two (preferably more) named meat sources, and as few grains as possible. The first ingredient should certainly be a named meat source. Grains are almost unavoidable in kibble, but they are not a natural source of food for dogs, are often undigestible (what’s the point of a food if your dog can’t digest it?) and are common allergens. Whole ground grains are far better than grain fragments (floor sweepings?) which typically have little or no nutritional value. Brown rice (a whole grain) is better than white rice, which has been stripped of about 75% of its nutritional value. Whole fruits and vegetables are better nutritional sources than grains.

Looking further down the list, we prefer not to see any corn products in the food (corn, corn meal, corn gluten meal, corn syrup, etc) as corn is very difficult to digest, of little nutritional value, and a very common allergen in boxers. Same goes for wheat products/fragments and for beet pulp or molasses (sugar). It should go without saying that we would never buy a food with any form of corn or wheat in the top five ingredients.

We do not want to see any by-products in the food, especially of un-specified source. The AAFCO definition of “chicken by-products” for example is “ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.” Now some of that stuff is OK – nothing wrong with chicken necks. But it is impossible to ascertain the quality and most of the ‘good stuff’ such as hearts, livers, and kidneys don’t go into by-products, they are useful elsewhere, unless the quality is too low. By-products are really those parts that can’t be used anywhere else and a lot of it isn’t OK. Without any ability to determine quality, we prefer to avoid by-products.

Do not forget to look at the preservatives used. Some of these are carcinogenics. Some common cacinogenic preservatives to look for and avoid are: BHT, ethoxyquin, BHA and propylene glycol (a less toxic form of anti-freeze). Citric acid as a preservative can also be problematic as it dramatically increases the risk of bloat if the food is moistened before feeding (according to veterinary research). In our opinion, it is better to purchase a food using tocopherols, ascorbic acid (Vitamin E) or anti-oxidants such as rosemary extract. Better yet, purchase a food that doesn’t contain preservatives at all (there are a few).

We do not want to see any artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners added to the food.

Cunning deceptions and other issues:
“Splitting” This is where the manufacturer “splits” the total amount of an ingredient into component parts to make it appear as though there is a lesser amount of the ingredient. An example would be an ingredient list that read like “chicken meal, ground corn, brown rice, corn gluten meal, lamb meal…”. Looks OK – the top ingredient is chicken meal. But is it really? Well, probably not. The manufacturer has “split” the corn content into component parts of ‘ground corn’ and ‘corn gluten meal’. As a total, the corn content is probably greater than the chicken meal (remember that we don’t know the %, only the order of weight).

Unlisted preservatives: The pet food maker is only required to disclose on the ingredient list those ingredients and preservatives that they themselves added to the food. Some ingredients – usually fats, and some fish products – have preservatives (usually ethoxyquin) added before they arrive at the pet food factory. You will not see this included on the ingredient list. Note that the use of ethoxyquin to preserve food for humans is strenuously debated as it is thought by some to be carcinogenic. The amount of ethoxyquin allowed in human food is a fraction of that allowed in pet food.

I hope that helps (and that you don't feel too overwhelmed!!)
Don't be shy to come back with other food possibilities!

nutro is mostly rice with a little meat in it... not the best way to feed a carnivore... no wonder most of it comes out as big poop do try the kirkland if price is an issue for you. it's a little better than the nutro (but not much). good luck!

nutro is mostly rice with a little meat in it... not the best way to feed a carnivore... no wonder most of it comes out as big poop do try the kirkland if price is an issue for you. it's a little better than the nutro (but not much). good luck!

yeah, but it's better than Actrium ... if I had to chose between both, I'd go for Nutro for sure!!
I agree, that if you'Re strapped for $$, Kirkland has the same ingrediants as Nutro, but is less expensive...

Nutro sells a lot of food because they give the pet store owners huge incentives to promote and sell it.

yup, I went into a montreal dog food store (drove alllll the way from the south shore into to town) because they sold a food I wanted to try with Buster (while we were still on the elimination diet -- I wanted to try Canidae) and for some reason I walked out with the most gimungous bag of Nutro and NO CANIDAE. I'm a sucker.

the worse part is I KNEW better....but the lady said that the troubles I was having with Buster was because I switched him to a too-high quality kibble too fast
So I bought, not a small bag of Nutro...but the BIGGEST freakin' bag they had

yeah, but it's better than Actrium ... if I had to chose between both, I'd go for Nutro for sure!!
I agree, that if you'Re strapped for $$, Kirkland has the same ingrediants as Nutro, but is less expensive...

Its not really an issue strapped for $$... after years of feeding and trying the best products out there i just dont believe you cant get a high quality food without paying for it.

Searching for options in value for money basically. Maybe i need another post or poll... what is the best value for the money?

There is NO CORN...NO WHEAT..NO COLORS ... NO FILLERS OR ARTIFICAL PRESERVATIVES...

24% CRUDE Protein
14% Crude Fat
5 % Crude Fibre
10% Moisture
Omega 6 and 3's
Acidophilus
The ingredient list I have in my lap right now on the bag which it is printed..Ingredient list on the bag in the order they appear:

My dog prefers this in taste against Acana, AND origin....eats a limitless supply (and does not exceed the recommended daily allowance)

comes at a price 44% Lower than the leading brands (by reputation)

My dog has finished grwoing up on this food (from 11 months to 2 years old) is very happy, very healthy taste test ACTR1UM wins over any other brand I"ve done the blind taste test....time, and time, and time again....without fail...

NO GAS, FIRM STOOLS, GOOD TEMPERMENT, COAT LIKE SILK, next to no shedding, breath like a freshly caught fresh water fish!

For the last week, he has had one plate of each, ACTRIUM and another lamb preparation of good repute 45% highter in price...and he eates the ACTR1UM plate 1st...EVERY TIME...I'm returning the other brand to the pet store...

THESE ARE THE FACTS ABOUT ACTR1UM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moto.RacerX

This is the Walmart Brand. Made in Canada and exclusive to Walmarts in

jkor, you're responding to a post from 4 yrs ago. Most food companies have changed/improved their ingredients due to consumers being much more educated when it comes to the nutrition of their furry family members

__________________
"Obey my dog!" - Mugatu

"Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" - Ok... whoever said this has never had a sick or special needs baby. They ARE our whole life!

My husband and I got our large dog from the spca. We fostered him first and he was eating 5 cups of food and he was lean, not skinny, but lean. He went to the bathroom 4 to 5 times a day. Too much mess.
Once he was ours we switched him to a good quality food and to this day he eats 2 cups of food a day and goes to the bathroom once or sometimes twice. Much better. The cheaper foods have way too much filler. He is still lean and energetic.

I've worked in 2 different pet stores for a total of 4 1/2 years and I learned a lot, did a ton of research, read books and tested different foods (only the better ones) on my own dogs.

We are using Orijen and are very pleased with the results.

In the past I lived near a dog food plant and you won't believe what the cheaper foods have in them. If you'd like to read a book that explains it all, look up Ann Martin's book.......I believe it's called What's really in your Dog Food, or just type it in your search engine.

There is a good site online called Dog Food Analysis. It breaks down all the different foods and explains why the ingredients are good or bad. There is so much to learn and I'm still researching.

Also we use a canned food called Tripett. It's made from the animals stomach and has all the gastric juices in it that help break down your dogs food and also I have found that it helps to keep the tarter off their teeth. They only get a good tablespoon a meal and a little extra once a week. I've been feeding it for about 5 years now and I wouldn't want to be without it.

I'm always interested in learning about ways to improve my animals health. So I continue to read and research.